Random musings on anything, just the right length to go with a cup of tea.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

April Begins with Medication

It's a new month, full of promise. Spring is in full bloom, overbloom, actually. With the greening and growing, a new chapter in my life arrives. Medication. Let's start with the metholtrexate.

It's four pills. I have to take these once a week. I ordered pizza and breadsticks for supper on Friday night. I can't do that every Friday night, way too expensive, but for the first time, it was worth it.

Then, Saturday morning dawns and I go line up the pills for that morning. The green one is a high dose of Vitamin D. I take two prednisone in the morning and one at night. I take folic acid and a calcium/vitamin D supplement and a zinc tablet. It's a lot to remember but I think I have the routine down after 3 weeks of working on it. I have to take the prednisone with milk or it can upset my stomach. Plus, I'd rather eat gravel than taste that pill. Bitter does not describe it.

Dr. Francis said that, aside from the RA, I am very healthy. The bone density scan showed very strong bones. My calcium and vitamin D levels are excellent. This is heartening. It means that there's nothing underlying to worry about. It's only RA that bothers me.

I went grocery shopping on Saturday. I found myself in a different mind set. I read labels. I added more fresh fruits and veggies to the cart. I walked through the soda and snack aisles and didn't give them one consideration. It was automatic. I did long for a beer. It seemed as if there was alcohol on every end cap and it was mocking my inability to have a drink for as long as I take the metholtrexate. But I know, eventually, I won't give alcohol a second thought.

I'm not letting this get to me. It could, in a backhanded way, be the best thing to happen in awhile. Yes, it's daunting to have to remember to take all this stuff, but the way I feel now is so worth it. On the CD I have, "The Best of the Rat Pack", Frank Sinatra sings this song and this is how I feel right now.

I'm gonna live till I dieI'm gonna laugh 'stead of cry I'm gonna take the town and turn it upside down

I'm gonna live, live until I dieThey're gonna say "What a guy!" I'm gonna play for the sky.
Ain't gonna miss a thing, I'm gonna have my fling,
I'm gonna live, live, live until I die.
The blues I lay low, I'll make them stay low,
They'll never trail over my head.
I'll be a devil, till I'm an angel, but until then.
Hallelujah! Gonna dance, gonna fly, I'll take a chance riding high,
Before my number's up, I'm gonna fill my cup,
I'm gonna live, live, live, until I die!

It's 11 pills to take over the 24 hours that is Friday night through Saturday night, but I'm on this road and I'm going forward.

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About Me

It's taken awhile to realize I'm truly in the middle of the ages. I'm a sometimes grown-up but if you want to walk in the rain without an umbrella, I'm all in. I like cats and reading; writing and cooking; chocolate and playing World of Warcraft; hot tea and hot cocoa; the Iowa Hawkeyes and jazz; counted cross-stitch and Scotland; just sitting on the deck doing nothing but sitting and visiting museums to expand my knowledge; watching the sun come up and standing in a cornfield at night trying to find the constellations. Thanks to rheumatoid arthritis, I'm walking a road I didn't expect to be walking, but I'm trying to make that route fun. You'll find I comment on all sorts of things. Thanks for stopping by.